Upgrading PaperCut MF & NG (upgrade procedure)

Q Can I upgrade straight from e.g. 12.x to 16.x or do I have to apply intermediate upgrades?

PaperCut is designed to support “install over the top” upgrades from any version to any newer version.

Q Is there any preparation I should complete before the upgrade?

Please look at our server sizing guide to make sure that your system can perform adequately when supporting the newer features in current versions of PaperCut Mf & NG?

Q Can I upgrade the Application Server but keep the clients and secondary servers on a previous version?

The PaperCut Application Server is designed to be backwards compatible, so you can have a newer version of the Application Server being used with older versions of the Secondary Servers, Release Stations, and Clients for the purposes of the upgrade. However, we highly recommend upgrading those other components to match the primary Application Server as soon as possible, so that you gain the benefits of upgrading all the components in your environment.

You cannot have an older version of the Application Server being used with a newer version of the Secondary Server, Release Station, or Client software.

Q Is the same true for Site Servers?

If you have Site Servers, they must be maintained at the same version as your Application Server. Site Servers have an especially close relationship with the Application Server and it is not possible to support older versions of the Site Server. When your Application Server is upgraded, your Site Servers will operate in offline mode until they are also upgraded.

The Upgrade Process

If you are using a licensed version of PaperCut NG, you can upgrade to the latest version at:

If you have PaperCut MF then you can obtain the installation software from your PaperCut business partner (reseller), or via the Check for Updates function, which is found on the About tab of your PaperCut administration console. Please note that customer self-service upgrades are only recommended for server and workstation components.
If you are migrating from PaperCut NG to PaperCut MF, then contact your reseller for support as this upgrade procedure does not apply.

2. Schedule appropriate downtime. It is suggested to choose a time of day with minimal network activity. If there is a large volume of data in the system take some time to read this article discussing database upgrade times.

3. Stop the PaperCut services running in the background. For operating system specific instructions please follow the link here.

4. As a precaution, we recommend backing up the whole PaperCut directory before beginning. Existing overnight backups may have taken care of this task, however take a few moments to create an up-to-date backup now. For example, on Windows, create a zip archive of the directory:

5. Run the installer and install into the same location as the existing install.

6. After the install has completed allow a few minutes before accessing the system. The system may need to perform a database upgrade and this will be performed in the background. If you try to access the application while a database upgrade is in progress a message displaying the upgrade status will be displayed. IMPORTANT: Do not shutdown the application while an upgrade is in progress. Wait for the upgrade to complete.

7. Any site servers should now be upgraded to the same version as the primary server. Until they are upgraded, any site servers associated with the primary server will continue to run in offline mode, with reduced functionality.

8. It is highly recommended that secondary servers, locally installed user clients, release stations and web print sandbox machines are now upgraded. Basic backwards compatibility for those components is maintained between releases, which allows upgrades involving a large number of servers, or multiple sites, to be staggered, breaking up and localising downtime. Additionally, you will likely not be able to take advantage of new features until all components are upgraded.

9. After the install is complete, log into the system and perform some tests to ensure all is working as expected and the system is monitoring user activity as expected. Administrators may find the post upgrade test plan useful. Sites running on Novell OES Linux are advised to restart their iPrint Print Manager.

Payment Gateway Upgrade and Downloads

PaperCut version 16.2 and above:

PaperCut version 16.2 and above are not compatible with older versions of the PaperCut Payment Gateway. You should upgrade to the latest version. Download the latest version from below:

Embedded Devices Upgrade

PaperCut MF users should now follow any upgrade instructions outlined in the embedded solution documentation for their devices. Your PaperCut reseller may be able to provide an appropriate resource to assist with this procedure.